Brands Hatch BSB: Mainwaring takes victory as Byrne crashes out!

Howie Mainwaring has taken a stylish wet weather victory at Brands Hatch, holding off rain man Josh Waters and a resurgent Jon Kirkham to take the win by mere centimetres.

However, the main drama of the race came when champion-elect Shane Byrne crashed out of second place, to keep Ryuichi Kiyonari’s hopes of a record fourth crown alive. Byrne now maintains a twelve-point lead, after Kiyonari was ruled out of today’s action with a broken collarbone.

The wet conditions, with heavy rain coming on just as they took to the grid, saw a number of race leaders, including Dan Linfoot, who held the front for most of the race, before fading back to eventually finish fourth.

Tommy Bridewell was fifth, ahead of Stuart Ellison, James Ellison and Josh Brookes, with the Milwaukee Yamaha team unable to dial wet settings into the Australian’s bike, leaving him to fade back.

Speaking after his debut win, Mainwaring said: “It’s been a long time coming, but we’ve never had much luck in superbikes – I think we’ve blown an engine nearly every weekend! There were issues this year with having to bolt my shoulder back together too, and everything has just fallen into place this weekend for us at last!”